Imperial Revision

by The Sound of Loneliness

A Plan To Fruition

Nightstar waited nervously flipping her scarf around her shoulder. The Priestess was set to return soon and Nightstar had to be ready for any assignments she might have received. Hopefully, she would not remember Nightstar’s frivolous disappearance, hopefully. In the current situation, being invited before the Moon could not mean anything good.

Dreamy might even use her as an exit for all her frustration, built up over the years, and that would be quite an eruption indeed. Warriors, soldiers, much less bureaucrats could stop dreamy on one of her bad days. But she was her personal maid and she was meant to endure things like that. Oh, the life of nobility. She envied the simplicity of young Silver’s so much.
While Nightstar herself was hard to be considered of noble origin, she served someone who could be, even if unusually. In Equestria at large, clergy never had a major influence, but Nigshtar’s bet-winged kind was not a part of Equestria at large for over a thousand years, and that is a very long time. Enough for cultures to change enough to be unrecognizable. Faith was what allowed them to endure in isolation, it was only natural that priests were synonymous to nobility. In Canterlot though, it was different. The High Priestess would have enormous sway back amongst her own people, but here ponies had a different kind of authority and did not take kindly to her attempting to replace it. Neither did the Empress herself. Dreamy did not merely go against her Empress, but against her goddess as well. Her wrath would likely be akin to both. What will become of them now?

Nightstar knew she was about to find out as the Priestess finally walked into the church. She was alone, her retinue was gone. So was her confidence. Her ears were flopping lifelessly, her step was slow and uneasy, her eyes were glued to the floor,
“Mistress!” Nightstar rushed to her. “Can I do anything for you? Prepare your altar? Maybe-”

“Go home, Nightstar,” Dreamy stopped her in her tracks.

“...W-what happened?” Nightstar asked in shock.

“The Moon needs us no longer. She ordered me to destroy everything. To demolish the church, to burn the texts and to dismantle the hierarchy. Those of us who can find no job in the city will be resettled,” Dreamy explained without even looking up. “Her soldiers will see to it that we do not have anything hidden. They will arrive within an hour, as soon as they have any to spare from policing the city.”

Nighstar was left without words, suddenly her own news no longer mattered. This was the end. The very night when she was needed most Nighstar was not at her place. But this was Her decree.

“If I can do anything at all...” Nighstar offered bleakly. Dreamy simply shook her head.

“Just go,” Dreamy grimly repeated.

Nighstar instinctively obeyed. What came next was a blur, and not only because the cursed glowing orb in the sky hurt her sensitive eyes. Her mind completely blank, devoid of intelligent thought. Nighstar simply didn’t know what to do, or even think at that matter. Her life just abruptly ended. It didn’t matter now what she would do.
It was no secret that common ponies despised them. Without Her protection, they would be repulsed and would have to return back to the mountains and live off crumbs.

Eventually, Nighstar sat down on someone’s porch in an alley. She didn’t remember how did she get here, or even where she was. Nightstar simply sat there, waiting for something, anything, to happen. She wasn’t quite sure what was that she waited to happen. For some miracle, maybe. The miracle that would never come again.

Cloudy Dawn was glad to see the light of day once in a while. In the last decade, there were precious few days when she did not have to work using lamps. Bizarrely, day and night have effectively switched their purpose. The darkness of the night no longer was the place for dark deeds, well unless they were sanctioned. But in the light of day the watchful slitted eyes grew blind and all sorts of business could be carried out. This is what Cloudy was doing right now, as the matter of fact. The emergency council meeting has concluded and the time was for Cloudy to meet someone else. This time a friend. Maybe it was too strong of a word. An acquaintance, ...a partner? An ally. A very unlikely one, but allies were very hard to come by these days.
Cloudy always had a meeting after submitting her report at the end of each month. That way she could provide to her ally the latest intel for her to act on. And it was quite impressive what she could do with just a tiny snippet of information. She rolled the entire city belly up and in just one short morning! Too bad that for her success some had to die. The thought made Cloudy feel unsettled.

“Cree!” Philomena hailed, silently landing on the open window.

“Oh, hello,” Cloudy absentmindedly greeted. “Just thinking. Nightmare Moon has been working on her public relationships recently. Her Guards threw a party for her all on their own. She danced with the Captain. Imagine that happening a year ago. Surreal, I know.” Philomeans quietly creaked. “Give her a year, a few months, weeks and she’ll make it straight with the rest of us. Tch,” Cloudy clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Guess it’s go-time, isn’t it? It’s now or never. A few more days and there’ll be no chance in the world she’ll ever step down. Amazing, we’ve been preparing for all these years, observing her, searching for patterns, building relationships, all for this moment,” Cloudy solemnly spoke. “I sometimes wonder: are we even doing the right thing? I mean, what if we actually make her do it? To step down. Then what? Who’s going to take her place? Celestia is gone, Hag’s sister won’t release her no matter what we do.” Cloudy considered for a long moment then nodded. “I guess I can respect that much about her. To live without a choice is not worth living at all.” Cloudy deeply sighed,
“Alright, let’s do it, and let the ponies choose what they are going to do themselves. After all, this is what freedom is all about, itsn’t it? Making our own choices,” Cloudy straightened up in her chair and focused on Philomena.
“So, you’ve been to bat-wings? Found someone willing to listen?” Philomena affirmatively creaked. “Alright, so we are doing it with them after all. Ironic, really. So, I get this one all set up then I get them in contact with Applejack, they’ll figure it out from there, right?” Philomena again creaked approvingly.
“Right then. Let’s get to it. Just let me grab something really quick,” Cloudy stood from her chair and moved over to the other side of her office, to an elaborate wooden cupboard and several China pieces inside. Cloudy reached for one of the bowls and retrieved a long cigar.
Philomena slightly tilted her head.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. I always wanted to try one of these. You know, like those business ponies and big shots in the government. It’s like one of those things you want to do before you die. ...Oh, sorry, I forgot it doesn’t apply. Well, anyway, let’s go.”

Cloudy followed the bird outside, tucking the cigar in her pocket. The gray coated mare took a deep breath of spring air. Truly, a wonderful time to die!

The phoenix lead her out of the upper city and down to the lower part, where lived the less privileged classes of society. From the streets, the bird led her down the gloomy alleways and then Cloudy finally saw who they were meant to meet - a lonely thestral mare, motionlessly sulking on someone’s porch.

“Nightstar,” Cloudy nodded and pulled out her cigar again. “Ah, damn. I forgot the light. Can you help?” Philomena cast an offended look down at the pony. “Come on! Don’t be like that! We won’t be seeing each other again until it’s all over, if at all. You really want to say goodbye like this?‘
Philomena stared at her for a long moment, before finally relenting and sharply rubbing her wings together, dropping out a single burning feather,
“Thanks,” cloudy said, finally lighting her cigar. The cigar smoke was not like something the regular smoke was like. It wasn’t coarse and purgent, but soft and even sweet. Cloudy spent a minute tasting it before speaking again,
“You know, I think I finally get it. Big and important ponies always have something they keep doing all the time. Someone smokes cigars, others drink some exotic stuff that always tastes like crap, someone parties with the worst imaginable ponies. I get why they all do it now. When you have something that you really hate in your life, you think less of what kind of a person you are. Well, I guess it’s time I joined the high society,” Cloudy spit the cigar on the ground and stepped at the burning tip. “I’ll be seeing you someday.”

With those last goodbye, Cloudy trotted forth to the entirely oblivious thestral mare,
“Hi,” Cloudy simply greeted, stepping closer. The thestral blinked her eyes and looked over at Cloudy, her eyes had a slight hint of recognition, “You are Nighstar, right? I’ve seen you with Dreamy.” The mare still kept peering into Cloudy, trying to remember her. “I am Cloudy Dawn, I've been visiting your church from time to time,” Cloudy helped her out.

“Oh… Sister Cloudy. I… I remember,” Nightstar nodded.

“Hey,” Cloudy said gently, sitting next to the mare. “I heard what happened. I just wanted to say I am sorry, the Moon was very harsh with you. If I can help in any way...”

Nightstar didn’t answer for almost a whole minute, her mind sluggish from its time in limbo,
“Oh!” Nighstar’s eyes went wide. “We… We will be exiled again! Without her protection, other ponies will not tolerate us!” Nightstar cried with the mixture of fear and anguish.

“I am sorry, Nightstar,” Cloudy compassionately spoke. “But this is the price you have to pay for you transgression against the Moon.”

“But… we only tried to help!” Nightstar cried.

“Yes. But this is how she ruled, we cannot disobey the orders of our sacred Majesty. Even if she does not rule all of us equally. I see how the High Priestess came to this decision. She believed she’ll be treated the same as the day-loving ponies,” Nightstar was stuck with a perplexed expression on her face.
“Oh, I am sorry, nobody must have told you about the changelings. The Moon’s favor is so fleeting,” Cloudy continued to slowly lead the poor mare to the point Cloudy wanted her to make.

“Actually… I heard that she employs a changeling spy. Someone she calls ‘Shadow’. She must have done something proving her worthiness.”

Nightstar was surprised by this development, it seems thestrals were not entirely oblivious about the internal doings of the palace after all,
“Oh, Shadow is not the only changeling in the palace,” Cloudy easily subverted this minor setback. “She was the only one for a while, but their number quickly grew and now they threaten to outnumber the ponies in the court. Very few creatures have personal access to the Moon and two of them are changelings. Shadow and this new drone by the name Thorax. Ponies in general seem to be falling out of favor with her. But you got it the worst, by far. I think she just waited for a good excuse to give you a buck out of her sight.”

“No!” Nightstar violently shook her head. “We are her chosen people! She always cared for us! She led us out of our exile and championed our rights!”

Cloudy leniently smiled,
“Dear, I fear this is simply not true. Not anymore. As soon as the war was over, she never spoke of you again at a council meeting. No directives, no edicts, not even a mention. She simply threw you out of the picture entirely. Didn’t you ever find it queer that she never again visited your church, or even spoke to a single thestral? Or that she gave you the furthest place in the city to build on? Unlike her other supporters, you live in the lower city, together with workers and clerks.” Nightstar did not respond, “It is quite obvious to everyone in the court that you long since fallen out of her favor, Nighstar. You must have displeased her greatly somehow.”

“...But what did we do?!” Nightstar cried. “We always did as she ordered us! We always were loyal to her cause no matter what it took! There is no one more loyal than us!”

“I believe loyalty alone is not enough for her,” Cloudy sadly shook her head, feeling genuine pity to the naive mare she was about to turn into her tool. “Maybe you will learn one night and regain her favor once more.”

“But how?! She just exiled us over again! If she won’t let us prove ourselves, how can we ever regain her favor?!”

“Well… Perhaps this is your opportunity?” Nightstar gave Cloudy a bewildered stare. “What I am saying is maybe she is testing you. If you are worthy of her. She just treated you unjustly. It isn’t common for her to punish her subjects so harshly for acting in an emergency. Maybe she wishes to see if your devotion remains steadfast in the times of crisis?”

For a long time Nightstar sat quietly, contemplating the unorthodox explanation,
“Then… what do we do?” she asked in confusion.

“The Moon wants to see her subjects united and living in harmony with each other. There is a particular group that wishes to have a gathering at the palace gates and speak to her. They hope that this is the bravery she wishes for us to display. Instead of running in fear, we should come to her and listen to her words. To ask what will be our penance and to accept it not with despair but with pride! Perhaps this is not the punishment she intended after all, but a great honor! Perhaps a mission to the away lands, to show others her glory so that they too may join us in her blessing, or maybe she wishes for us to found a new, glorious city of churches in her name alone! There is no need to despair, for our goddess is not the one of rage, but the one of justice and mercy in equal measure. In every move, look and deed there is a great design. If she makes us struggle, it is only so that we may grow stronger to build an even grander future!” As Cloudy preached, Nighstar kept listening with more and more wide-eyed amazement. As Cloudy hoped, the thestral mare was just desperate enough to eat up any presented hope she was treated to.
“Now, do as she ordered you to do. Then spread the word. Tomorrow night the moment of your glory comes!”

As Nightstar hurried away to spread the new gospel, Nightstar wearily stood up and walked out back to the street. Just like Nightstar, she had no time to rest. Nor did she have any time to feel guilt for what she just did. Poor, naive fools.

Cloudy was now to find one more pony for her work to be done. Normally, she wouldn’t be selling at this hour, but considering that more or less everyone was awake today in the city, she might make an exception.
Cloudy went along the streets of the lower city, passing an occasional car and smelling the engine fumes with delight. This was so familiar and dear after the stuck-up freshness of the upper city. At heart, Cloudy always was that city filly, and a city means industry. Air that does not smell of smoke, fish, or chemicals always made her feel out of her place. Cloudy savored the taste of burned gasoline as long as it lasted, eventually finding a young mare on the street with a stack of newspapers beside her.

“Read all about it! Over a dozen casualties and over a hundred wounded! The horrifying infighting incident!” the mare shouted to the passing ponies. Cloudy smiled at the sight, recalling her own youthful years,
“Oh! Lady Cloudy!” the mare called to her. Cloudy frowned at the title and how this neo-feudal tradition of addressing ponies was working its way into every crevice of society. ‘Sirs’ and ‘Ladies’ were slowly replacing simply ‘hello.’

“Good afternoon, Inky,” Cloudy greeted in a reserved manner. “How’s Fuze?”

“Oh, he’s back at the 7th avenue, say Inky sent you at the door.”

“Thanks, see you around, Inky.” Upon waving her goodbye, Cloudy went straight to the nearby alley and knocked on the specific door 7 times, “Inky sent me.”

The door opened up slightly and a stallion looked out at her,
“Get in,” he nodded.

“AJ’s here?” Cloudy pushed inside.

“Yeah, see her in the backroom.”

“Thanks,” Cloudy went straight where she was directed, past a few ponies playing cards.

Applejack, missing her usual hat, was sitting alone by a table crowded with letters, bulletins and postmarks. Her look was unusually focused,
“I see you are hard at work already,” Cloudy smiled at her.

“Uhm?” Applejack raised her eyes to look at her visitor. “Ah, ‘dats you.”

“So, any successes?”

“Some. Got me some hundreds, maybe a thousand folks that ‘ought to come. Ye?”

“I got you maybe another thousand and a half. You met a lot of thestrals?”

“Bats? Ain’t many. ‘Dem lot ain’t friendly much, Especially to us.” Then it clicked to her, “Wait. Ye meanin’ to say ye made ‘em to sign up?!”

“Yup. Them’s feelin’ a bit down after Hag bucked em’ out of the town. Got them to question it for once, instead just doing as told.”

“Damn, Sugarcube, ye know how to get things done!” Applejack stood up and went to give Cloudy one of her suffocating affections, Cloudy reflexively recoiled. “Ye said ye’ll help and ye did help! Also,” to Cloudy’s relief, Applejack stopped, entirely forgetting about giving Cloudy her thanks upclose, “we got a friend back with us, Rainbow, ye know ‘er. She brought some of her army folks, them’s got some questions to ask too.”

“Rainbow?” Cloudy scratched her musingly. “AJ, hate to break it for ya, but she’s a spy.” Applejack instantly started frowning,
“Just sayin’ how things are. It’s not her fault that Hag has her on a leash. My guess ‘dat she wants her to see what we are up to and tell ‘er ‘dat we ain’t dangerous. Can’t say I can judge her, not after what happened in the mornin’.”

“So she wants to know where we are to crack down on us?”

“No, don’t think so, AJ. She the kind of person that just wants to know everythin’ ‘bout everyone.”

“So? Da hay we do know?! We can’t just throw Rainbow in da cell, like she does!” Applejack just dropped down on her chair and propper her head.

“Me sayin’ just let her do her thing. Nothin’ bad in Hag just knowin’. She already knows about you doin’ something anyway, won’t make much difference. Actually, ya know what?” a sudden idea spiked her mind. Not her best idea, but sometimes a mare just has to follow where her heart leads...

“What?”

“Just tell her I was here, I’ll take it from there.”

“Ya sure ‘bout ‘dat, Sugarcube? No tellin’ what Hag would do if she finds out ye helpin’ us.”

“Trust me,” Cloudy confidently said, not quite being confident herself. "You just gave me an idea."